Not harming others and the freedom of choice in worship in Islam
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success! I read in a book on the biography of the Prophet that Islam, in its principles and values, includes not harming others,
The Shaykh:
not harming.
The questioner:
that Islam, in its principles and values, includes not harming others and leaving the freedom of choice in worship. Is this statement correct?
The Shaykh:
As for not harming people, yes, this is required. Not harming people is required, except in the case of retaliation: if someone harms you, you harm them to the same degree, and forgiving them is better. The reward for bad deeds is[Ash-Shuraa 42:40] and the question remains.
The questioner:
It says: not harming others and leaving the freedom of choice in worship.
The Shaykh:
Leaving the freedom of choice. You do not force people to enter Islam; you cannot force them. You cannot force them, but you call them to Islam, encourage them, and explain it to them. If they respond, praise be to Allah; otherwise, you have established the proof against them and cleared your responsibility. Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success! I read in a book on the biography of the Prophet that Islam, in its principles and values, includes not harming others,
The Shaykh:
not harming.
The questioner:
that Islam, in its principles and values, includes not harming others and leaving the freedom of choice in worship. Is this statement correct?
The Shaykh:
As for not harming people, yes, this is required. Not harming people is required, except in the case of retaliation: if someone harms you, you harm them to the same degree, and forgiving them is better. The reward for bad deeds is
like it, but whoever pardons and makes reconciliation - his reward is [due] from Allah
مِّثْلُهَا فَمَنْ عَفَا وَأَصْلَحَ فَأَجْرُهُ عَلَى اللَّهِThe questioner:
It says: not harming others and leaving the freedom of choice in worship.
The Shaykh:
Leaving the freedom of choice. You do not force people to enter Islam; you cannot force them. You cannot force them, but you call them to Islam, encourage them, and explain it to them. If they respond, praise be to Allah; otherwise, you have established the proof against them and cleared your responsibility. Yes.
Source
شرح كتاب المنتقى من أخبار المصطفى صلى الله عليه وسلم، بداية من باب بيان زوال تطهيره — islamhouse.com (1:07:09)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.